Recently developed an interest in Gnosticism, anyone else into this?

Want to read some of the Nag Hammadi texts. Anyone know of any excellent online resources. So far I've found gnosis.org .

that  is the best source, I have seen.

Is there a real-life gnostic revival going on, or is this still at the stage of scholarly interest?

scholarly interest at the moment. why do you ask, is there a reason for it to be revived, was it ever dead?

One of my favorites from the Nag Hammadi is The Gospel of Thomas

especially verse 12

the one about James?

yes.......

I had always heard it slightly different

"Master who do we turn to , when you are gone?  Jesus said look to James the Just, for whom heaven and earth were created."

This post was last modified: 07-29-2012 05:36 AM by skyblue1 .

Well, I don't know much about Gnosticism, but last I checked it was exterminated by the present church in the small centuries C.E.  Or maybe it's one of those "we were in hiding the whole time" dealies like the neo-Druids or some Wiccans like to say.  

The thing is, everytime this comes on television, they always make a big deal about what an "oh crap" moment it was for western scholarship, when it turned out that there were books which did not make it into the new testament.  As if it were a foregone conclusion that only four gospels and a handful of letters would have been written.  Dan Brown, although I personally think he is an idiot (frankly, I think he's only interested in Gnosticism because he hates Catholics) considers the very existence of Gnosticism subversive.  Of course in real life, it's just another heresy if you're Catholic, and just another genocide if you aren't.  

Still, it'd be interesting to see where they come out politically, who (both modern and ancient) they'd be more influenced by, and how seriously they take the problem of all revivals, that of "authenticity."  By this last, I mean that it is impossible to live a third-century gnostic life in twenty-first century America or Great Britain or wherever.  How hard are they willing to try to do it?  All these questions could be very closely related.  Or maybe not.  

And it's sad when anything is wiped out.  A piece of the mosaic of life has been knocked off and kicked away.  In itself, a part of life, but still a sad one.

This post was last modified: 07-29-2012 05:40 AM by Lang.

I want to scream at christains, you are not following Jesus, you are following Paul.

A version of christianity foisted upon you by Constantine.

But they are like republicans, they just dont listen

I though the apocrypha was the text of the original Dead Sea Scrolls that never made it in the New Testament cause they didn't think it was necessary? Aren't they the books that fill in the 450 year (I may be off) gap between the old and new testaments ?  

For the OP, here's the site I've found on more material on the Gnosis with free E-Books you can download, like, E-Books on the apocrypha, the kabalah, alchemy.... etc... Including freeware and shareware software

I personally is dying to try out this subliminal software to reprogram my sub-conscience mind to help me battle my unconfidence and stuff

"The Apocrypha" is a nonsense word.  You have to specify which one, because there are so many.  An apocryphal book of scripture is one you don't accept, even though somebody else might.

From what I've read and heard (thus far, and my investigation is just beginning), Gnosticism must have been resurrected when they found the nag hammadi texts in 1945...which are texts as genuine as any which are in the new testament-- except for the fact that they do not have the confidence of the Church.

I don't know much about Dan brown and haven't read any of his books...I have the impression he is just a charismatic entrepreneur.

I am interested in the real scriptures, the stuff I can go and touch, or experience--not a single person's speculations and conspiracies.

The only reason I bring up Dan Brown is because a lot of people mistake the stuff in his books for fact, and unlike some authors, he encourages them.  I've had people say things like, "Did you ever know" then recite to me the plot of the only book of his I have read.  Even without the Christians, the bible belt is a hotbed of religious nuts.

I have a general rule of thumb which seems to work most of the time: if anything is a money making enterprise, if profits are being gathered, if something is not easily accessible [in terms of money/price] by poor lil' me, then its probably full of crap. [this is a very generalizing statement, but its effective in that it reminds me to be cautious].

So, I feel good about ancient texts because most of them can be found at a library or online, or in a museum of some sort, and the original authors really believed what they were copying or writing down (which makes it all the more fascinating).

The biggest exception to this rule has been Harry Potter. That series is just brilliant, JKR is brilliant.

This post was last modified: 07-29-2012 08:08 AM by sg1008.

Actually that site isn't one of those money making enterprises but free and it's full of ancient texts as well as a huge selection of other subjects....